Major Project - Pre-Race Day Thoughts & Preparation
Pre-Race Day Thoughts & Preparing for Tomorrow's Shoot
Race day is tomorrow and we spent today investing time in making sure we're as prepared as physically possible for tomorrow's shoot, given that it's probably the most ambitious shoot of the entire production. Regardless of whether or not we'd get the opportunity to incorporate it into the university version of the documentary, we wanted to film some pre-race thoughts with Alex the night before the race itself. This was a very simple shoot in comparison to the things we've already done up to this point - we used the Sony AX53 hand-held by myself on a W.S. (Wide Shot) in Alex's bedroom.
This sequence was fairly short; we only wanted to capture 1-3 minutes of Alex talking about how he feels in advance of tomorrow's events. He spoke about what the journey has been like up to this point and the things that he's going to be thinking about tomorrow before the race. I also asked whether he thought he was going to get any sleep tonight to which he answered "Probably not". It's sequences like this that we're recording with the foreknowledge that we're likely going to be putting together an extended cut following the university hand-in, just to do justice to all of the sequences and contributors that we've had to cut over the course of working on this project.
In terms of preparation for tomorrow, myself and Alex spent a couple of hours working out the camera plans and shot lists for the race day. This includes a map of Brands Hatch similar to the ones he's done for Snetterton and Donington in the past. By doing this, we're able to put together a visual representation of where every crew member should be throughout the day as well as operators different shooting locations that they'll make their way to as the event progresses. Each operator was designated a colour which was then marked on the map to designate each of the locations they're expected to shoot from to get the material that we want. These locations are based off of our previous shoots at Brands Hatch on track days and the racing license but have been adjusted due to the shooting limitations we have during official racing events. The map also lists numbers to show the order in which operators should visit each shooting location.
There's also camera cards that Alex put together individually personalised to each operator. These include images of the kind of framing we're looking for when they're out there with the equipment which can really help ensure our operators not only get the right material, but also feel comfortable in what they're doing. The less pressure our operators feel like they're under the better and that's a key focus for us during these shoots that have more than just us working as part of the crew. As mentioned above we were unfortunately unable to get track-side filming access for the race itself, this is due to additional filming restrictions that are put in place during events that aren't applied during regular track/media days. This resulted in us having to re-arrange our shooting plan fairly short notice, however thanks to our knowledge and experience of shooting on track, we knew several locations where we could get great looking material without violating our access limitations.
It's somewhat hard to believe that the race day has come around so quickly, however we're now on the precipice of the thing that this entire documentary has been leading up to at this point, so we're both excited and nervous as the sun sets this evening.
Race day is tomorrow and we spent today investing time in making sure we're as prepared as physically possible for tomorrow's shoot, given that it's probably the most ambitious shoot of the entire production. Regardless of whether or not we'd get the opportunity to incorporate it into the university version of the documentary, we wanted to film some pre-race thoughts with Alex the night before the race itself. This was a very simple shoot in comparison to the things we've already done up to this point - we used the Sony AX53 hand-held by myself on a W.S. (Wide Shot) in Alex's bedroom.
This sequence was fairly short; we only wanted to capture 1-3 minutes of Alex talking about how he feels in advance of tomorrow's events. He spoke about what the journey has been like up to this point and the things that he's going to be thinking about tomorrow before the race. I also asked whether he thought he was going to get any sleep tonight to which he answered "Probably not". It's sequences like this that we're recording with the foreknowledge that we're likely going to be putting together an extended cut following the university hand-in, just to do justice to all of the sequences and contributors that we've had to cut over the course of working on this project.
In terms of preparation for tomorrow, myself and Alex spent a couple of hours working out the camera plans and shot lists for the race day. This includes a map of Brands Hatch similar to the ones he's done for Snetterton and Donington in the past. By doing this, we're able to put together a visual representation of where every crew member should be throughout the day as well as operators different shooting locations that they'll make their way to as the event progresses. Each operator was designated a colour which was then marked on the map to designate each of the locations they're expected to shoot from to get the material that we want. These locations are based off of our previous shoots at Brands Hatch on track days and the racing license but have been adjusted due to the shooting limitations we have during official racing events. The map also lists numbers to show the order in which operators should visit each shooting location.
There's also camera cards that Alex put together individually personalised to each operator. These include images of the kind of framing we're looking for when they're out there with the equipment which can really help ensure our operators not only get the right material, but also feel comfortable in what they're doing. The less pressure our operators feel like they're under the better and that's a key focus for us during these shoots that have more than just us working as part of the crew. As mentioned above we were unfortunately unable to get track-side filming access for the race itself, this is due to additional filming restrictions that are put in place during events that aren't applied during regular track/media days. This resulted in us having to re-arrange our shooting plan fairly short notice, however thanks to our knowledge and experience of shooting on track, we knew several locations where we could get great looking material without violating our access limitations.
It's somewhat hard to believe that the race day has come around so quickly, however we're now on the precipice of the thing that this entire documentary has been leading up to at this point, so we're both excited and nervous as the sun sets this evening.
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